Pilot's Bill of Rights

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on June 29, 2012. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Pilot's Bill of Rights - Requires National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proceedings for the review of decisions of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to deny, amend, modify, suspend, or revoke an airman's certificate to be conducted, to the extent practicable, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) provide timely, written notification to the subject of an investigation involving the approval, denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of an airman certificate of specified information pertinent to the investigation; and (2) provide him or her with access to relevant air traffic data. Authorizes the Administrator to delay such notification if it threatens the integrity of the investigation.

Allows a substantially affected individual to elect to file an appeal of a certificate denial, a punitive civil action, or an emergency order of revocation in the U.S. district court in which individual resides, in which the action in question occurred, or the district court for the District of Columbia. Allows a substantially affected individual who elects not to file an appeal in a U.S. district court to file such appeal in the appropriate U.S. court of appeals.

Directs the Administrator to begin a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) Improvement Program to improve the system of providing airmen with pertinent and timely information before a flight in the national airspace system. Requires the Administrator to establish a NOTAM Improvement Panel composed of representatives of relevant nonprofit and not-for-profit general aviation pilot groups to advise the Administrator in carrying out program goals.

Requires the Comptroller General to: (1) assess the FAA process for the medical certification of airmen; and (2) report to Congress on revisions to the medical application form, the alignment of medical qualification policies with present-day qualified medical judgment and practices, and steps that could be taken to promote the public's understanding of the medical requirements determining an airman's medical certificate eligibility.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov